Date: November 11-12, 2024
Location: Richardson Mountains, Rees Valley Station, Otago, New Zealand
Total Trip Distance: 19.51 mi / 31.39 km
Total Elevation Gain: 8,655 ft / 2,638 m
Trip Duration: 2 days
Team: Solo
Field Notes: For access into Arthur's Creek, see the detailed description below. Ferguson and Lapith Peak make for great skiing with close to 1,000 meters of skiable terrain. There are some exceptional steep couloirs on the south face of Long Charlie Spur. Permission must be sought from Rees Valley Station: 03 442 9908
Climbing Grade: I, 2
Ski Grade: 3.1, PD, E2
Spring has finally blossomed and the mountains are delivering. I had considered a variety of different trips for this window and ultimately chose to head into the Richardson Mountains as they will lose snow first before the other ranges. I gave a quick call to the Rees Valley Station to ask for permission and in turn, they gave me some excellent beta to avoid terrible scrub.
I started mid afternoon under a hot sun. Thankfully the wind was up and it kept me from breaking into a full blown sweat. The route into Arthur's Creek is straightforward but can quickly turn into a shit show. To avoid this, cross Arthur's Creek and look for a clear defined sheep's trail that heads directly uphill.
Continue following the sheep's trail until you hit an old fence line. Follow this fence until you find a white pole road marker where there is an obvious gap in the fence. Go through this and again follow a rough sheep's trail through scrub until the ridge is gained at 900 meters. From here, it is easy to follow the ridge line into the head of Arthur's Creek.
Once in the mouth of the valley, follow the obvious trail down into the creek and cross over to the true left. Head uphill, gaining roughly sixty to eighty meters in elevation before dropping back down to the creek at 1,260 meters. This route will help you avoid some painfully slow terrain. At the flats, cross over and follow the true right of Arthur's Creek up the valley. There is no easy path forward from here and travel is slow.
I set my alarm for six in the morning, unsure of how good the freeze would be overnight. Part of me felt like I wouldn't be skiing corn until early afternoon, but I didn't want to risk it. At five thirty in the morning I felt like someone was pushing me awake. And no, I'm not kidding. There are things that happen in the mountains that are supernatural.
I fired up my Jetboil to brew some hot water and warm the body. By 6:30 I was off. The temperature was absolutely perfect. Cold enough that you didn't break a sweat but warm enough that you're fingers didn't hurt. The snow provided excellent cramponing and I doubted that I would have good skiing conditions.
Mount Ferguson is a very straightforward peak and I climbed to the col between the summit and Point 2420. Following the ridge to the summit, I hit a roadblock. A steep, chossy step blocked my path. In ski boots, I wasn't keen. I backtracked and down climbed very steep snow and gained the south face. I traversed over to the east ridge where I was denied again by a nasty cornice. Shit. I worked back across the south face and found a break between the summit and the step. Third time lucky, I dropped my pack and scrambled up to the summit.
There is no denying the majesty of summiting a snow capped peak. In these moments one almost forgets to breathe, or rather, there is no breath. It has been taken away from you by the sheer magnitude of the surrounding landscape. Looking around, my eyes were directed to the remote and stunning Centaur Peaks - a mission for another day. My gaze wandered south along the crest of the Richardson Mountains to summits from previous excursions...Major Peak, Larkins, Black Peak...
It was roughly ten in the morning and the snow wasn't going to thaw anytime soon so I decided to ski down and head over to Lapith Peak. A few steep and icy turns saw me off the upper mountain while lower down the gradient was relaxed. I crossed over to the second mountain of the day and transitioned below the south couloir.
The terrain was somewhere around forty degrees and I used two tools to get up the face (mainly because I wanted to see how the Black Diamond Venom LT works as a pair - note: I love these tools). It felt good to be front pointing. I love the methodical rhythm of right tool, left tool, right crampon, left crampon, repeat.
On the summit ridge the sun exploded above me. Blue sky stretched out in all directions. Only in the mountains can such an experience be encountered. The views were profound and I could not take my eyes off the Centaur Peaks. The east facing snow was perfect corn and I wished I was skiing that! Instead I was going to ski very hard, very steep snow. I took a ski strap and lashed my ice axe to my ski pole to create a whippet.
Off the summit I did a few jump turns and traversed down into the gut. I crossed old avalanche debris and attempted to ski the slight southeast facing aspect of the couloir. It was still bulletproof until I hit corn at 1900 meters. Yes! I let off the breaks and opened up all the way back down to camp.
Next to the creek, I took a moment to absorb the day before packing up. Two beautiful summits in perfect weather and stoked that I was able to ski them. A true blessing. The creek gurgled nearby and reminded me of the long walk that awaited. I ate, re-hydrated, organized my gear and shouldered my very heavy pack.
It took the same amount of time to get out as it did to get in! Five hours on the trot under a scorching New Zealand sun. Back in the valley the wind rushed down the flanks of the mountains and I happily greeted it. I hadn't seen anyone the whole trip until I met two climbers on their way to "climb Earnslaw before the rain." Go get some. Eleven and a half hours later I got back to the car to end another spectacular trip.
Happy days...
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